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言者，以諭意也。言意相離，凶也。亂國之俗，甚多流言，而不顧其實，務以相毀，務以相譽，毀譽成黨，眾口熏天，賢不肖不分，以此治國，賢主猶惑之也，又況乎不肖者乎？惑者之患，不自以為惑，故惑惑之中有曉焉，冥冥之中有昭焉。亡國之主，不自以為惑，故與桀、紂、幽、厲皆也。然有亡者國，無二道矣。 |
| | Speech is used to convey meaning. When speech and meaning become separated, it is ominous. In a disorderly state, the customs are such that there is much gossip, and people pay no attention to the truth. They strive only to denounce one another and to praise each other; denunciations and praises form factions, and with many voices rising together, they can reach up to heaven. In this way, the virtuous and the unworthy become indistinguishable. To govern a state in such conditions, even a wise ruler would be confused—how much more so those who are unworthy? The danger of confusion lies in the fact that one does not realize oneself to be confused. Therefore, within confusion there is understanding, and within obscurity there is clarity. The ruler of a fallen state does not consider himself to be confused; therefore, he belongs to the same category as Jie, Zhou, You, and Li. Thus, for a nation that is doomed to fall, there is but one path—no alternatives remain.
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鄭國多相縣以書者。子產令無縣書，鄧析致之。子產令無致書，鄧析倚之。令無窮，則鄧析應之亦無窮矣。是可不可無辨也。可不可無辨，而以賞罰，其罰愈疾，其亂愈疾，此為國之禁也。故辨而不當理則偽，知而不當理則詐，詐偽之民，先王之所誅也。理也者，是非之宗也。 |
| | The state of Zheng had many people who hung up writings to display them. Zi Chan issued an order prohibiting the hanging up of writings, but Deng Xi persisted in doing so. Zi Chan then issued another order forbidding the delivery of such writings, yet Deng Xi relied on loopholes to continue his actions. If orders are endless, then Deng Xi's responses will also be endless. Right and wrong must therefore be clearly distinguished. If right and wrong are not clearly distinguished, yet rewards and punishments are still applied—then the more severe the punishment, the faster the disorder will spread. This is a prohibition for governing a state. Therefore, to distinguish without accordance with reason leads to falsehood; to know without accordance with reason leads to deception. The people who engage in deceit and falsehood are those whom the sage kings of old would have punished. Reason is the fundamental standard for distinguishing right from wrong.
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洧水甚大，鄭之富人有溺者。人得其死者。富人請贖之，其人求金甚多，以告鄧析。鄧析曰：「安之。人必莫之賣矣。」得死者患之，以告鄧析。鄧析又答之曰：「安之。此必無所更買矣。」夫傷忠臣者，有似於此也。夫無功不得民，則以其無功不得民傷之；有功得民，則又以其有功得民傷之。人主之無度者，無以知此，豈不悲哉？比干、萇弘以此死，箕子、商容以此窮，周公、召公以此疑，范蠡、子胥以此流，死生存亡安危，從此生矣。 |
| | The Wei River was very large, and a wealthy man of Zheng drowned in it. People found the dead body. The wealthy man asked to redeem the corpse, but the finder demanded a great deal of gold and informed Deng Xi about it. Deng Xi said: "Leave it be." "For no one will then sell the body anymore." The finder of the corpse was worried and informed Deng Xi about it. Deng Xi replied again: "Leave it be." "For there will certainly be no one else to buy the body anymore." Those who harm loyal ministers are similar to this situation. If a minister has no merit and thus does not gain the people's support, then one harms him by citing his lack of merit and failure to win popular favor; If a minister has merit and gains the people's support, one harms him again by citing his very merits and popularity. A ruler without standards is unable to discern this situation—how sorrowful is that? Bi Gan and Chang Hong died because of this; Ji Zi and Shang Rong fell into hardship for the same reason; Zhoub Gong and Zhao Gong were suspected due to it; Fan Li and Wu Zixu were exiled on account of it. Life, death, survival, destruction, safety, and danger all arise from such circumstances.
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子產治鄭，鄧析務難之，與民之有獄者約，大獄一衣，小獄襦袴。民之獻衣襦袴而學訟者，不可勝數。以非為是，以是為非，是非無度，而可與不可日變。所欲勝因勝，所欲罪因罪。鄭國大亂，民口讙譁。子產患之，於是殺鄧析而戮之，民心乃服，是非乃定，法律乃行。今世之人，多欲治其國，而莫之誅鄧析之類，此所以欲治而愈亂也。 |
| | Zi Chan governed Zheng, but Deng Xi deliberately made things difficult for him. He made agreements with commoners who had legal disputes: one set of clothing for a major case and a tunic and trousers for a minor case. The number of people who contributed clothes and tunics in exchange for learning how to litigate was beyond count. They took what was wrong as right, and what was right as wrong; there were no standards for distinguishing between right and wrong, so what was acceptable and unacceptable changed day by day. Whatever one wished to condemn could be condemned, and whatever one wished to justify could be justified. The state of Zheng fell into great disorder, with the people clamoring loudly in uproar. Zi Chan was troubled by this situation, so he had Deng Xi executed and publicly punished; only then did the people's hearts submit, right and wrong become settled, and laws and regulations begin to be enforced. People of the present age often desire to govern their states well, yet few are willing to deal with Deng Xi-like figures; this is why they intend to bring order but end up causing more chaos.
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齊有事人者，所事有難而弗死也，遇故人於塗。故人曰：「固不死乎？」對曰：「然。凡事人以為利也。死不利，故不死。」故人曰：「子尚可以見人乎？」對曰：「子以死為顧可以見人乎？」是者數傳。不死於其君長，大不義也，其辭猶不可服，辭之不足以斷事也明矣。夫辭者，意之表也。鑒其表而棄其意，悖。故古之人，得其意則舍其言矣。聽言者以言觀意也。聽言而意不可知，其與橋言無擇。 |
| | In the state of Qi, there was a man who had taken on an obligation to serve someone; when his principal encountered difficulties and did not die, he met an old friend along the road. The old friend asked: "So you are indeed not going to die?" He replied: "Yes." He said: "Serving others is for one's own benefit." "Dying would be disadvantageous, so I do not die." The old friend said: "Can you still show your face before others?" He replied: "Do you think that by dying, one can still appear before people?" This argument spread widely. Not dying for one's ruler or superior is a great act of injustice, yet the man's words could not be refuted; this clearly shows that mere rhetoric is insufficient to decide matters. Speech is the outward expression of meaning. To examine only the words and discard their meaning is to act in contradiction. Therefore, people of old who grasped the meaning would set aside the actual words. Those who listen to speech use it as a means to discern meaning. If one listens to words yet cannot understand the meaning, then there is no difference between such listening and merely hearing hollow speech.
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齊人有淳于髡者，以從說魏王。魏王辯之，約車十乘，將使之荊。辭而行，有以橫說魏王，魏王乃止其行。失從之意，又失橫之事。夫其多能不若寡能，其有辯不若無辯。周鼎著倕而齕其指，先王有以見大巧之不可為也。 |
| | There was a man from Qi named Chunyu Kun, who went to persuade King Wei of the state of Wei through his diplomatic arguments. King Wei of Wei debated with him and agreed, preparing ten chariots, intending to send him as an envoy to the state of Jing. He bid farewell and was about to depart when he presented a different argument before King Wei of Wei, persuading him otherwise; thus, the king stopped his journey. This man lost both the intent of vertical persuasion and failed in horizontal diplomacy as well. A person with many abilities is not as effective as one with few, and someone who argues eloquently is not as valuable as one who does not argue at all. The Zhou dynasty's bronze ding vessels depicted the craftsman Chui, yet his fingers were shown gnawed—this was how the sage kings of old demonstrated that great skill cannot be fully realized.
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